Integration apparatus and integration method thereof for integrating calendar system and cloud storage system

ABSTRACT

An integration apparatus and an integration method, an integration program thereof for integrating a calendar system and a cloud storage system are provided. The integration apparatus includes a network interface, a storage medium and a processor. The network interface is connected to a network. The storage medium stores an integration program. The processor is electrically connected to the network interface and the storage medium, and it is configured to run the integration program to execute the integration method to integrate the calendar and cloud storage systems together.

FIELD

The present invention relates to an integration apparatus and anintegration method for integrating a calendar system and a cloud storagesystem. More particularly, the integration apparatus of the presentinvention links multiple users' calendars and cloud storage mediumstogether based on a specific event.

BACKGROUND

Online services, such as calendar services, cloud storage services,messaging services etc., have become an important part of our dailylives and working environment. For example, participants of a meetinguse online calendars for arranging their meeting schedules, create filesfor a meeting and store the created files in their own cloud storagespaces. However, these relevant files are usually revised, resent andreshared many times via a messaging service (i.e. email services) byparticipants before, in, and after the meeting. Over time, it may becomedifficult to find a specific file related to the meeting. Consequently,redundant file copies occupy participants' cloud storage spaces, howevernot all participants have the up-to-date files when the meeting started,and most participants are difficult to relocate the files in their cloudstorage spaces after the meeting.

Accordingly, efforts still have to be made in this field to provide amechanism, which can effectively resolve the file management issue whensharing files around calendar-events.

SUMMARY

An objective of the present invention is to provide a mechanism whichcan effectively integrate a conventional online calendar system and aconventional cloud storage system to resolve the file management issuewhen sharing files around calendar-events.

To achieve the aforesaid objective, certain embodiments of the presentinvention disclose an integration apparatus for integrating a calendarsystem and a cloud storage system. The integration apparatus comprises anetwork interface, a storage medium, and a processor. The networkinterface is connected to a network. The storage medium is configured tostore an integration program. The processor is electrically connected tothe network interface and the storage medium, and is configured to runthe integration program to execute the following steps: (a) receiving anevent message via the network interface, initiated by a user device,sent from the calendar system, including a plurality of eventparticipant's account addresses and an event description; (b) parsingthe received event message; (c) extracting the event participants'account addresses from the event message; (d) accessing the cloudstorage system via the network interface to match the eventparticipants' account addresses with a cloud storage account database ofthe cloud storage system, obtain a plurality of cloud storage accountsmatched the event participants' account addresses, create a share folderin the cloud storage system and share the share folder to the matchedcloud storage accounts; and (e) accessing the calendar system via thenetwork interface to update the event description by adding a share linkof the share folder of the cloud storage system.

In addition, to achieve the aforesaid objective, certain embodiments ofthe present invention further disclose an integration method for use inan integration apparatus for integrating a calendar system and a cloudstorage system. The integration apparatus comprises a network interface,a storage medium, and a processor. The network interface is connected toa network. The storage medium is configured to store an integrationprogram for the integration method. The processor is electricallyconnected to the network interface and the storage medium, and isconfigured to run the integration program to execute the integrationmethod.

In one example embodiment, the integration method comprises thefollowing steps: (a) receiving an event message via the networkinterface, initiated by a user device, sent from the calendar system,including a plurality of event participants' account addresses and anevent description; (b) parsing the event message; (c) extracting theevent participants' account addresses from the event message; (d)accessing the cloud storage system via the network interface to matchthe event participants' account addresses with a cloud storage accountdatabase of the cloud storage system, obtain a plurality of cloudstorage accounts matched the event participants' account addresses,create a share folder in the cloud storage system and share the sharefolder to the matched cloud storage accounts; and (e) accessing thecalendar system via the network interface to update the eventdescription by adding a share link of the share folder of the cloudstorage system.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thesubject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the connectional relationshipsamong an integration apparatus 11, a calendar server 13 and a cloudstorage server 15 according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an integration apparatus 11 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the connectional relationshipsamong an integration apparatus 11 and a service-providing server 31according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram of an integration method according to thethird embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, this invention will be explained withreference to example embodiments thereof. However, the description ofthese example embodiments is only for purposes of illustration ratherthan limitations. It should be appreciated that in the following exampleembodiments and the attached drawings, the elements not related directlyto this invention are omitted from depiction and dimensionalrelationships among the individual elements in the attached drawings areillustrated only for ease of understanding, and not limitation.

The first embodiment of this invention is depicted in FIG. 1, which is aschematic view illustrating the connectional relationships among anintegration apparatus 11, a calendar server 13 and a cloud storageserver 15. The integration apparatus 11 of the present invention canaccess a calendar system executed in the calendar server 13 and a cloudstorage system executed in the cloud storage server 15 through thenetwork 17. The network 17 is constituted by the Internet,telecommunication network, personal network or any combination thereof.

The calendar server 13 runs a calendar system (e.g. Google calendar) forusers arranging their schedules. The cloud storage server 15 runs acloud storage system (e.g. Google drive or “Dropbox) for users storingand sharing their files. In this embodiment, the integration apparatus11 runs an integration program for an integration method invented inthis invention to parse event messages 102 (e.g. event messages can beevent invitation mails containing event participants' email addressesand event descriptions) sent from the calendar system executed in thecalendar server 13 and do proper interactions with calendar systemexecuted in the calendar server 13 and cloud storage system executed inthe cloud storage server 15 according to contents of received eventmessages 102 through the network 17.

When a user wants to invite other people to an event (e.g. a meeting),he or she can use his or her user device 21 to access the calendarsystem executed in the calendar server 13 to add a corresponding eventto the calendar system executed in the calendar server 13 and to send anevent message 102 to people that he or she wants to invite to the event.The event message 102 includes a plurality of event participants'account addresses and an event description, which may contain the time,place, or any relevant information to the event. Once participants ofthe event receive the event message 102 and accept the event invitation,the event will be added to their personal calendars in the calendarsystem executed in the calendar server 13. It shall be noted that thepresent invention can be applied to any case in which there is two ormore participants including the sender and the recipients; however, thenumber of the participants is not intended to limit the scope of thepresent invention.

Taking email addresses as event participants' account addresses forexample, the event message 102 is an email which contains the emailaddress of the integration apparatus 11 and the email addresses of theparticipants in the event as well. Except for the email address of thesender, other email addresses are the destination of the event message102. After receiving the event message 102, the integration apparatus 11parses the event message 102 and extracts the event participants'account addresses (i.e. the email addresses of the participants) fromthe event message 102. Afterwards, the integration apparatus 11 accessesthe cloud storage system to match the event participants' accountaddresses with a cloud storage account database of the cloud storagesystem executed in the cloud storage server 15 and to obtain a pluralityof matched cloud storage accounts from the cloud storage accountdatabase. The present invention assumes that cloud storage accountsstored in the cloud storage account database have at least one attributewhich can match the event participants' addresses (identities) used inthe event message 102 (e.g. an email address).

Once the related cloud storage accounts are obtained, the integrationapparatus 11 creates a share folder in the cloud storage system executedin the cloud storage server 15 and shares the created share folder tothe matched cloud storage accounts in the cloud storage system executedin the cloud storage server 15. Finally, the integration apparatus 11accesses the calendar system executed in the calendar server 13 throughthe network 17 to update the event description by adding a share link ofthe share folder in the cloud storage system executed in the cloudstorage server 15. Afterwards, event participants will have the createdshare folder in their own cloud storage spaces in the cloud storagesystem executed in the cloud storage server 15 automatically, and theyare able to access the event related files through either their owncloud storage spaces in the cloud storage system executed in the cloudstorage server 15 or the event in their own personal calendar in thecalendar system executed in the calendar server 13.

According to FIG. 2, the integration apparatus 11 of the presentinvention comprises a network interface 11 a, a storage medium 11 b anda processor 11 c. The network interface 11 a is connected to the network17 for dealing with message communications from/to the network to/fromthe integration apparatus. The storage medium may be a tangiblemachine-readable medium for providing the integration apparatus with apermanent storage, such as a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, ahard disk, or any other storage media with the same function and wellknown to those skilled in the art.

The processor 11 c is electrically connected to the network interface 11a and the storage medium 11 b. The processor 11 c runs the integrationprogram for the integration method stored in the storage medium 11 b.The processor 11 c receives the event message 102 via the networkinterface 11 a, initiated by the user device 21, from the calendarsystem executed in the calendar server 13. The processor 11 c parses theevent message 102 and extracts the account addresses from the eventmessage 102. The processor 11 c accesses the cloud storage systemexecuted in the cloud storage server 15 via the network interface 11 ato match the account addresses with a cloud storage account database ofthe cloud storage system executed in the cloud storage server 15, obtainthe cloud storage accounts matched the account addresses, create theshare folder in the cloud storage system executed in the cloud storagesystem 15 and share the share folder to the matched cloud storageaccounts in the cloud storage system executed in the cloud storagesystem 15. The processor 11 c accesses the calendar system executed inthe calendar server 13 via the network interface 11 a to update theevent description by adding the share link of the share folder.

The second embodiment of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 3,which is a schematic view illustrating the connectional relationshipsamong the integration apparatus 11 and a service-providing server 31. Inthis embodiment, the calendar system and the cloud storage system arerun in the service-providing server 31. The integration apparatus 11 ofthe present invention can access the service-providing server 31 toachieve operations described in the first embodiment, and thus, will notbe further described herein

The third embodiment of the present invention is an integration methodfor an integration apparatus (e.g. the integration apparatus 11described in the previous embodiments); a flowchart of which is depictedin FIG. 4. The integration apparatus comprises a network interfaceconnected to a network, a storage medium and a processor electricallyconnected to the network interface and the storage medium. The storagemedium stores an integration program for the integration method. Theintegration program is a computer executable program and it is run bythe processor in the integration apparatus 11 to perform processesdepicted in FIG. 4.

Firstly, step 401 is executed to enable the processor to receive anevent message via the network interface, initiated by a user device,from a calendar system. The event message includes a plurality of eventparticipants' account addresses and an event description. Step 403 isexecuted to enable the processor to parse the received event message.Then, step 405 is executed to enable the processor to extract the eventparticipants' account addresses from the event message.

Following that, step 407 is executed to enable the processor to accessthe cloud storage system via the network interface to match the eventparticipants' account addresses with a cloud storage account database ofthe cloud storage system, obtain a plurality of cloud storage accountsmatched the event participants' account addresses, create a share folderin the cloud storage system, and share the share folder to the matchedcloud storage accounts in the cloud storage system. Finally, step 409 isexecuted to enable the processor to access the calendar system via thenetwork interface to update the event description by adding the sharelink of the share folder in the cloud storage system.

In addition to the aforesaid steps, the integration method of thisembodiment can also execute all the operations set forth in the firstand second embodiments and accomplish all the corresponding functions.The method in which the integration method of this embodiment executesthese operations and accomplishes these functions can be readilyappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art based on theexplanation of the first and second embodiments, and thus, will not befurther described herein.

According to the above descriptions, the present invention can link theevent in event participants' personal calendars in the calendar systemand the share folder created in participants' cloud storage spaces inthe cloud storage system. Accordingly, this invention allows eventparticipants to upload event related files into the share folder toshare event related files among participants, as well as allows eventparticipants to access the event related files by through either theshare folder in their personal cloud storage spaces or the share link inthe event of their personal calendars. Therefore, the present inventioncan effectively integrate the conventional online calendar system andconventional cloud storage system to resolve the file management issueof file sharing around calendar-events.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although suchmodifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the abovedescriptions, they have substantially been covered in the followingclaims as appended.

What is claimed is:
 1. An integration apparatus for integrating acalendar system and a cloud storage system, comprising: a networkinterface connected to a network; a storage medium, being configured tostore an integration program; and a processor electrically connected tothe network interface and the storage medium, being configured to runthe integration program to execute the following steps: (a) receiving anevent message via the network interface, initiated by a user device,sent from a calendar system, including a plurality of eventparticipants' account addresses and an event description; (b) parsingthe event message; (c) extracting the event participants' accountaddresses from the event message; (d) accessing the cloud storage systemvia the network interface to match the event participants' accountaddresses with a cloud storage account database of the cloud storagesystem, obtain a plurality of cloud storage accounts matched the eventparticipants' account addresses, create a share folder in the cloudstorage system, and share the share folder to the matched cloud storageaccounts; and (e) accessing the calendar system via the networkinterface to update the event description by adding a share link of theshare folder.
 2. The integration apparatus as claimed in claim 1,wherein the event participants' account addresses are email addresses.3. The integration apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the networkinterface is remotely connected to a calendar server and a cloud storageserver, the calendar system is located on the calendar server, and thecloud storage system is located on the cloud storage server.
 4. Theintegration apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the networkinterface is remotely connected to a service-providing server, and thecalendar system and the cloud storage system are located on theservice-providing server.
 5. An integration method for use in anintegration apparatus for integrating a calendar system and a cloudstorage system, the integration apparatus comprising a networkinterface, a storage medium and a processor, the network interface beingconnected to a network, the storage medium storing an integrationprogram for the integration method, the processor being electricallyconnected to the network interface and the storage medium and runningthe integration program to execute the integration method, theintegration method comprising the steps: (a) receiving an event messagevia the network interface, initiated by a user device, from the calendarsystem, including a plurality of event participants' account addressesand an event description; (b) parsing the event message; (c) extractingthe event participants' account addresses from the event message; (d)accessing the cloud storage system via the network interface to matchthe event participants' account addresses with a cloud storage accountdatabase of the cloud storage system, obtain a plurality of cloudstorage accounts matched the event participants' account addresses,create a share folder in the cloud storage system, and share the sharefolder to the matched cloud storage accounts; and (e) accessing thecalendar system via the network interface to update the eventdescription by adding a share link of the share folder.
 6. Theintegration method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the eventparticipants' account addresses are email addresses.
 7. The integrationmethod as claimed in claim 5, wherein the network interface is remotelyconnected to a calendar server and a cloud storage server, the calendarsystem is located on the calendar server, and the cloud storage systemis located on the cloud storage server.
 8. The integration method asclaimed in claim 5, wherein the network interface is remotely connectedto a service-providing server, and the calendar system and the cloudstorage system are located on the service-providing server.